OriginalEasyStill.com – Turbo Yeast

Turbo Yeast and its Multiple Features

Turbo Yeast is extremely robust yeast containing selected yeast, macro and micro nutrients as well as quality boosting ingredients. Turbo yeast is available in bags that can ferment 25 liters of mash and contains around 3 to 4 times more nutrients than other yeasts.

There are different types of yeast that are suited for various forms of fermentation and temperature tolerance as well as alcohol tolerance form vital features of any yeast. For instance, bakers yeast can only handle up to 11 to 12 % alcohol strength while Turbo yeast variants can handle between 14.5 to 21%.

Nitrogen, magnesium, and phosphorous form part of macro nutrients and so do magnesium sulfate and diammonium phosphate.

Other quality boosting ingredients present in Turbo yeast perform vital functions such as reduce fusel oil formation and other by-products, stabilize pH levels, stop foaming, boost temperature tolerance or even encourage fermentation in addition to the functions provided by various other nutrients.

Yeast fermentation leads to high temperatures and alcohol strengths, and leads towards the killing temperature, which ultimately kills the yeast. Robust yeast such as Turbo yeast is known as temperature tolerant yeast since it can ferment comfortably in high temperatures. Thus, one needs to ensure sufficient cooling around the fermentation vessel as well as ferment a maximum of 25 liters only at one time. This is especially critical in summer time when cooling fans and temperature tolerant yeast need to be used.

How to select the Best Turbo yeast?

For complete peace of mind, one simply needs to choose Turbo Yeasts offered by Gert Strand, which have retained top position for over 2 decades. Basically, these Turbo yeasts are the very same supplied to commercial distilleries in the spirit industry, but packed in smaller quantities for the retail industry.

Enthusiasts need to choose from different yeast variants depending on what they wish to produce. Two vital features such as purity and strength need to be considered. One can choose a lower variant if one wants a cleaner mash with lower alcohol strength of 14.5% as compared to higher 18% strength although the quantity fermented will also be less. Most enthusiasts prefer 18% Turbo that produces more alcohol with higher strength.

The Turbo yeasts mentioned below are very appropriate for the EasyStill.

Turbo yeast that ensures high alcohol strength

Turbo Pure 48 is an extremely temperature tolerant Turbo yeast that can ferment up to 18 to 19% alcohol strength and even 20 to 21% in case 10 kg of dextrose is used instead of sugar. No other yeast strain on the globe can ferment cleaner at 18% or at higher temperatures than Turbo Pure 48. EasyStill Turbo can manage up to 15%. Excessive fusel oils will develop if the mash temperature goes above 30 degrees Celsius. Fruit snaps cannot be made using Turbo Pure. Since fermentation is so pure, it works very well for alcobase that can easily be flavored to Ready to Drink (RTD) beverages.

One can begin fermentation using Turbo Pure 48 either by beginning with a mash temperature of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius that ferments 8 kg of sugar within 48 hours or begin at room temperature that delivers a much cleaner mash, but after 5 to 10 days.

One can get rewarded with 18% alcohol strength having specific gravity of 985 (-15 as per the Oechsle scale) after 44 hours provided the start fermentation temperature is 35 degrees Celsius and specific gravity (SG) is 1.120 (+120 as per the Oechsle scale).

Further fermentation up to 982 and 18% alcohol can be attained in case the mash is allowed to stand for 5 days.

Unfortunately, Gert Strand’s competitors have also started to market their inferior yeast as “Turbo Pure” or adding “Pure” to their brands simply as a means to achieve sales. Using such yeast variants with deceptive names can prove to be disastrous even for those that use the Amazing Still simply because other brands might end up producing harmful methanol. The Original Turbo Pure 48 from Gert Strand produces no methanol. One need not even discard fore shots (methanol) while using the homemade Amazing Still.

Yet another Turbo yeast is Prestige 8 kg Turbo that ferments 8.5 kg sugar to deliver 21% alcohol provided the temperature is maintained below 25 degrees Celsius throughout fermentation. It delivers 18% alcohol from 8 kg sugar infused in 25 liters of mash. One bag can ferment 4 batches of 25 liters each to deliver 100 liters of excellent alcohol including fruit snaps. However, Prestige 8 kg Turbo should not be used in summer or in countries with warm climate as it is not temperature tolerant as high heat caused during fermentation can kill the yeast.

One can achieve 18% alcohol in the mash provided the start SG is 1.120 (+120 as per the Oechsle scale) and final fermentation SG is 982 (-18 as per the Oechsle scale).

One more good Turbo yeast is Black Label Turbo Yeast. Most distilleries use this yeast since it is the most stress tolerant variant on the globe and the second most temperature tolerant one. It can deliver 14.5% alcohol with 6 kg sugar and 17 to 18% alcohol when 7.5 kg sugar is used during fermentation. It delivers a reasonably clean mash with 14.5% alcohol at 38 degrees Celsius and also delivers great fruit snaps.

It can give 14% alcohol in the mash if the starting SG is 1.090 (+90 as per the Oechsle scale) and final fermentation SG is 984 to 987 (-13 to -16 as per the Oechsle scale).

However, in warm countries where the fermenting temperature can rise to 40 degrees Celsius, which is also the ethanol killing temperature, Black Label Turbo or any other Turbo Yeast might not be suitable for fermenting 7.5 kg sugar (sucrose). But enthusiasts use it anyway with high success rates since Black Label Turbo is very temperature tolerant.

Black Label Turbo is created to easily ferment 6 kg sugar with ample nutrients, but might fall short while fermenting 7.5 kg sugar, which in turn could lead to stuck fermentation in case the yeast experiences high temperatures.

In hot countries, fermentation should be handled with care, since Black Label Turbo can get caught in stuck fermentation in mash temperatures of above 38 degrees Celsius while fermenting 7.5 kg sugar. However, this yeast ferments perfectly in case temperature is maintained below 34 degrees Celsius and final fermentation SG should be at 985.

Turbo yeast that ferments to maximum levels of purity

A fantastic variant of Turbo Pure 48 is the Turbo Pure 24 that has same temperature tolerance but is quite heavy yeast and has several additives to reduce the creation of several undesired products while fermenting. This yeast is thus expensive to sell and dispatch. Turbo Pure 24 should be used only to produce alcohols with 14.5% strength for maximum clarity since this is the best Turbo for this strength and it is certainly suitable for fruit snaps. However, fusel oil formation is high in case mash temperature rises over 30 degrees Celsius and in such cases Black Label Turbo would be a better choice.

One can receive over 13.5% alcohol provided the starting SG of the mash is 1.090 (+90 as per the Oechsle scale) and final fermentation SG of 986 to 990 (-10 to -14 as per the Oechsle scale). If left for an additional 24 hours, an additional few tenths of 1% alcohol can be created.

One Turbo yeast that is a favorite among most distilleries is Black Label Turbo, which is possibly the yeast with the highest stress and temperature tolerance levels on the globe. It provides 14.5% alcohol when normally used with 6 kg of sugar and is the best Turbo for countries with hot tropical climates. It delivers a clean mash with 14.5% alcohol even at 38 degrees Celsius. Even though it provides a clean mash, it is still bettered by Turbo Pure 24 that delivers a cleaner mash.

In case you do not use any Turbo Yeast of Gert Strand, then we would recommend that you use our very own Black Bull Turbo Yeast.

Turbo yeast suitable for 8 liter batch fermentation

One can use 2.5 kgs sugar and Prestige Mini Turbo yeast to produce 8 liters of mash with 18% alcohol strength.

The final alcohol strength of 18% after 7 to 10 days of fermentation can be achieved if the starting fermentation SG is around 1.120 (+120 as per Oechsle scale) and final fermentation SG is 982 (-18) as per the Oechsle scale).

This yeast is fantastic for preparing fruit snaps after fermenting 25 liter batches. Fermentation of the snaps should proceed at a slow pace for around 3 to 4 weeks in order to prevent the flavor from escaping together with carbon dioxide. This yeast is used in low quantities thanks to slow fermentation and high nutritional value of the fruit.

Whisky and Turbo yeast

Turbo yeast should never be used for making whisky since suitable whisky yeast that does not have additional nutrients is the right yeast to prepare whisky.

Poor Quality Turbo yeast vs Top Quality Turbo yeast from Gert Strand

All over the globe, there is a wide range of yeast that is being sold to distillers and customers alike. The yeast offered by Gert Strand of Sweden is the same that is marketed to professional distilleries all over the globe. Professional distillers have in-house laboratories and advanced testing equipment such as Gas Chromatography and Spectral Analysis machines, HPLC, etc., and they test all yeast before using them to ferment their products. Thus, the yeast delivered by Gert Strand needs to be far better than their current yeast in order to supply to such professional distilleries. Home enthusiasts actually get the very same yeast sold to professional distilleries, but packed in small sachets for the retail market.

Retail customers are often taken for a ride while buying yeast since they do not have the technical knowledge or testing equipment to determine the actual quality of the offered yeast. They have to rely on yeast recommended by store owners, which usually is the one on which profit margins are high, which translates into low quality yeast. Gert Strand has tried to educate customers about the importance of high quality yeast and interested enthusiasts can gain valuable information at http://www.turbo-yeast.com/intro.html.

Enthusiasts that want to purchase Gert Strand’s high quality yeasts can visit www.allfreightfree.com. One can place orders for Black Label Turbo, Turbo Pure 24, and Turbo Pure 24, among others and receive the products right at their doorstep in the form of a First Class letter at http://www.partyman.se/turbopure_order.html. It’s that easy.